1952: The Wichita Duffel-bag murder

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  • Опубліковано 8 вер 2024
  • Thursday May 1st 1952 was Edward Bircher’s birthday. When Bircher, a well-known Wichita building contactor, stepped onto the porch of his home on the east side of the city that evening, he was struck my a sudden, but already familiar, overpowering odour. For several days now the stench had seemed to emanate from the crawlspace beneath the home in what was described in 1952 as an exclusive Wichita neighbourhood. Thinking he had pondered the issue for long enough, Edward Bircher alerted the police. This is the story of the Wichita Duffel-bag Murder.
    I appreciate all the support I get from my subscribers through sharing, comments and likes. If you’d like to further support me, you can through PayPal or Ko-Fi. Links below:
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    Music:
    "Spider Eyes" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
    Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
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    "SCP-x6x (Hopes)" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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КОМЕНТАРІ • 145

  • @CuriousWorldProductions
    @CuriousWorldProductions  Рік тому +148

    I've been distracted, my friends. More videos coming up in the near future.

    • @edwhatshisname3562
      @edwhatshisname3562 Рік тому +5

      Good to hear. A few videos every 3 months isn't a terrible stride. I don't think.
      About 3 months on average anyway.

    • @hstjames5609
      @hstjames5609 Рік тому +19

      For videos of the calibre you produce, a small wait is no price to pay. Thank you for the amazing content! Looking forward to seeing what you have planned for the next few months :)

    • @MikeB071
      @MikeB071 Рік тому +8

      Your videos are always top quality! Well worth the wait.

    • @elisestevenson7163
      @elisestevenson7163 Рік тому +4

      Omgsh! A new video!!! Thank you so much!

    • @StalinLovsMsmZioglowfagz
      @StalinLovsMsmZioglowfagz Рік тому +1

      Who the hell would kill someone and put their dead body under the parents house? I think his dad must have covered for him.

  • @thurayya8905
    @thurayya8905 Рік тому +11

    Thank you. You often feature people that the rest of the world forgot. Your stories reclaim them.

  • @kendramcalister8287
    @kendramcalister8287 Рік тому +8

    This happened 30 minutes from where I grew up and currently live. Thank you for your classy, well written, and diligent reporting. My husband and I are big fans!

  • @YOutsider
    @YOutsider Рік тому +9

    the contrast between short sentence 13 years-long life 77 years of the killer with military gravestone, and the unmarked grave of the woman he extinguished. unjust to say the least.

  • @TawnyC_
    @TawnyC_ Рік тому +10

    He also was found guilty of aggravated burglary and aggravated battery. In 1976 he broke into a former neighbor's house and started beating a sleeping 16 year old boy. When the boy woke up and tried to get away, Bircher stabbed him with a long screwdriver, causing serious injury.

  • @thehangmansdaughter1120
    @thehangmansdaughter1120 Рік тому +12

    I used to work in a morgue when I was at Uni. While an extra 4 weeks or so to the age of a body would normally be obvious, the very cool temps at that time of year, and the constriction of the body in the bag, protecting it from insect activity, could make estimating the time of death difficult without contextual clues. Of course in 1952 we knew so much less about the decomposition of the body. Thanks to the body farms we can now more easily pinpoint TOD, even under strange circumstances.

    • @thehangmansdaughter1120
      @thehangmansdaughter1120 Рік тому +1

      At first I thought the opposite, but soon realised we were talking about the northern hemisphere, and thus it's cold in Feb instead of 28c like it is here. I'm such a idiot. 😂😂

  • @audreymuzingo933
    @audreymuzingo933 Рік тому +8

    Public libraries are such an underutilized resource nowadays. So much information (and fascination!) inside them cannot be found on the internet.

  • @TheRedBaron1917
    @TheRedBaron1917 Рік тому +7

    Babe, wake up. New curious world video just dropped

  • @jannetteberends8730
    @jannetteberends8730 Рік тому +6

    You are the only true crime channel where the video make sense. You are actually one of the few channels where the video make sense. Most channels are just podcasts with pictures. (And subtitles)

  • @Legionmint7091
    @Legionmint7091 Рік тому +6

    First I though the temperature in Wichita could have been low enough to stop decomposition of the body. But when I checked the temperature in February to May 1952 that doesn’t seem to be the case. It’s really odd that the family didn’t react to the smell much earlier.
    And why did he take the body to his parents house in the first place, moreover by cab, when he could have rented a car and dumped the body just about anywhere else than under his family’s porch?

  • @MegaKemper
    @MegaKemper Рік тому +5

    Born and raised in the Wichita area and hadn't heard of this one. Thanks for putting it out there.

  • @Legionmint7091
    @Legionmint7091 Рік тому +8

    Good job, and impressive research. It’s great and respectful that you raise awareness of this victim that everyone seems to have forgotten about.

  • @thejudgmentalcat
    @thejudgmentalcat Рік тому +6

    I love old, unknown cases

  • @arcadiagrenier3679
    @arcadiagrenier3679 Рік тому +4

    Live in Wichita and had never heard of this one! Actually lived just a few houses up from the parking lot at one time. Thanks for coming to visit and telling this piece of our story!

  • @TheDakotaRed1
    @TheDakotaRed1 Рік тому +7

    Very impressed by your research and use of primary sources. Close to home for me. Wonder if you spoke with my wife at the history museum. I'll ask if she's heard about the case in the morning. I certainly haven't.

  • @rolfsinkgraven
    @rolfsinkgraven Рік тому +5

    A strange place to hide a dead person, stupid ppl make stupid mistakes, poor victim. Great story again thnx.

  • @davedogge2280
    @davedogge2280 Рік тому +5

    70 years later and who knows what occured in your home, the land on your home or your immediate nieghbourhood, all kinds of henious crimes probably forgotten in time.

  • @Cheshyre.
    @Cheshyre. Рік тому +5

    Written, Narrated and Edited by amazingly talented people.

  • @j.cr.1207
    @j.cr.1207 Рік тому +4

    Happy to have you back!

  • @4FYTfa8EjYHNXjChe8xs7xmC5pNEtz

    It's amazing that you went all the way to Wichita to research this case, and sad that it isn't better known. Thank you for all the time and effort you put into this.

    • @christosvoskresye
      @christosvoskresye Рік тому

      He said he was in Wichita on other business. Why not take advantage of the opportunity?

  • @Kimrbr549
    @Kimrbr549 Рік тому +7

    As to the discrepancy in her date of death, Kansas can get really cold in the winter…maybe it was cold enough to keep decomposition at bay until it got warmer? Just a thought…

    • @malina1239
      @malina1239 Рік тому +5

      I also believe this is what happened. If the body were placed there in late February , it probably froze and it would have preserved the body for a long time since it was under the stairs with no sun exposure during the warmer hours.
      When the temperature rose and kept above freezing at night , the body would start to thaw and decompose.

  • @CharlieB.-
    @CharlieB.- Рік тому +8

    Wow I’m am floored that you actually traveled 🧳 to the location where the house once stood. Never heard of this case. You did an amazing job on this video.

  • @ikelove6784
    @ikelove6784 Рік тому +15

    Thank you for going to Wichita for some reason

  • @katmartindale8049
    @katmartindale8049 Рік тому +10

    Usually Februarys in Wichita are quite cool, often freezing so depending on the weather it is possible that the cold keep the body from normal decomposition. I don't know what the weather was that year or if that was taken into account by the coroner's office at the time of the autopsy. I grew up in the Wichita area and had not heard of this murder. Thank you for sharing the story with everyone. I hope that your stay in my hometown was a pleasant one.

    • @ellenkarlsson9490
      @ellenkarlsson9490 Рік тому +1

      I was thinking the same thing. I looked up Wichita climate on Wikipedia and it seems plausible. Can't find any weather data for 1952.

    • @Legionmint7091
      @Legionmint7091 Рік тому

      @@ellenkarlsson9490 You can check the temperature in Wichita 1952 month by month at extremeweatherwatch

  • @godzilla5599
    @godzilla5599 Рік тому +5

    The date of the murder and the discovery of the body could make sense if you look up the weather at the time,it can get very cold even that far south and if the place where the body was placed wasn't warmed by the house than the smell could start as it thawed.
    ETA: Looks like the average temp that year was about 34 dgrees F so yea she could have been there if it stayed that cold for even half the time,if the temps jumped to the 50's in Mar it could still be cold at night and sometimes it takes a week or two for the ground to thaw out so it makes sense the father didn't notice a smell until he did...

  • @jamesferguson2353
    @jamesferguson2353 10 місяців тому +4

    oh how times have changed , a 22 year old man being described as a youth in the newspaper

  • @c.carter3290
    @c.carter3290 Рік тому +5

    I agree with the other comment about the cold weather possibly delaying or dampening any smell of decay. Also, this case may have been forgotten because of all the attention given to the Clutter family being murdered a few years later in 1959. Overshadowed, in a sense.

  • @CharlotteWV01
    @CharlotteWV01 Рік тому +6

    Your videos are top tier 👏

  • @tessaducek5601
    @tessaducek5601 Рік тому +3

    It does sadden me when structures no longer exist.
    I understand " Progress "
    But I love to see old buildings and homes.
    Too often even street names are changed.
    I love to see period photographs regardless of where they were taken.
    So much of history gets lost and forgotten.
    Many murders and deaths are forgotten about that were big news at the time.
    Its a lovely tribute to those who have been swallowed up in the past to have their stories told. Many of us watching from the US and abroad are from different generations and been brought together by
    caring individuals from another country that took the time to resurrect her tale.
    Thank You for your time and research into this young lady's life and sad demise...

  • @Katie88422
    @Katie88422 Рік тому +3

    So glad your back

  • @magesalmanac6424
    @magesalmanac6424 Рік тому +4

    I greatly appreciate the amount of research that goes into your videos. It’s a treasure to find a channel that does these kinds of deep dives into forgotten history. I imagine there’s still a few people out there, who were very young when the case happened, who still remembers it.

  • @walkingdad6978
    @walkingdad6978 Рік тому +4

    Glad you’re back CW. Top vid yet again we’ll researched and narrated 😊

  • @vintagelover4207
    @vintagelover4207 Рік тому +7

    Always worth the wait when you bring a new video out 😊 quality over quantity for sure!

  • @TheSaneHatter
    @TheSaneHatter Рік тому +7

    Welcome back, old chum, and welcome to America, as well!
    I'm hardly surprised at the fate of the murder site: I've heard of previous caes wherein murder-scarred houseshave simply been takne down, whether used as vacant lots or repurposed with new buildings. These are reminders that no one wants, and when there's no further evidence to be gained from the building, then there's little practical reason to keep it standing.

    • @FranNyan
      @FranNyan Рік тому +1

      Especially if a body has been there long enough to start rotting, even if it's a natural death, people will avoid the house. Had a house across the way from a place I was renting be torn down for a similar reason.

    • @TheSaneHatter
      @TheSaneHatter Рік тому +1

      @@FranNyan The smell does not always fade, literally or figuratively.

  • @jodu626
    @jodu626 Рік тому +4

    time do you call this?!?! feels like it’s been 700 years.

  • @imtired6104
    @imtired6104 Рік тому +3

    I'm so glad to see you've made a new video and look forward to the next one! I love your channel.

  • @mogusmonroe9431
    @mogusmonroe9431 Рік тому +4

    Thought it was a good mystery at the start. Going to the location was amazing. Great job. That was unexpected.

  • @peppercat8188
    @peppercat8188 Рік тому +2

    I missed your videos a lot. Great to see you back and your work is well worth waiting for.

  • @aliencat11
    @aliencat11 Рік тому +2

    That is a strange story forcso many reasons. Thanks for sharing!

  • @moseshorowitz4345
    @moseshorowitz4345 Рік тому +6

    Doubtless no one would want to buy the house where such a grisly find was made, and it fell into disuse before being demolished.

    • @magesalmanac6424
      @magesalmanac6424 Рік тому +2

      It’s grisly but.. I’ve heard the smell of decay can seep into a house and it’s very difficult to get rid of it 😬

    • @tessaducek5601
      @tessaducek5601 Рік тому +1

      @@magesalmanac6424 It does. When bodies are found in cars after a time. The vehicles are often crushed. So I can definitely understand demolishing houses. The building Dahmer lived in was as was John Gaceys house.

  • @larauch13
    @larauch13 Рік тому +3

    Thank you for telling her story. It's sad that she had been forgotten.

  • @dawnkobylarz7126
    @dawnkobylarz7126 Рік тому +2

    Thanks for coming back, love your Stories!

  • @angelatheriault8855
    @angelatheriault8855 Рік тому +4

    I would assume most people would try to distance themselves from the victim and the murder as quickly as possible so the facts of this case are very odd. Either there were some very dark psychological undertones at play here or the murderer was extremely stupid. It’s interesting he claimed his rights were violated and tried to claim he was a victim considering his light sentence.

  • @hiddenshadow2105
    @hiddenshadow2105 Рік тому +3

    Nice to see you back.

  • @josh656
    @josh656 Рік тому +3

    Duffel Bags™️ Not just for murder

  • @vbomber3498
    @vbomber3498 Рік тому +2

    Another brilliant production from you! Thank you so much🙂

  • @demisavage77
    @demisavage77 Рік тому +3

    I think I’m experiencing a glitch in the matrix because I swear I listened to this exact video last week. I even remember the part about the trip to the US and the visit to that area. 😮.

  • @thomasmann9216
    @thomasmann9216 Рік тому +3

    It's not surprising that no one was familiar with the case after 70 years.

    • @magesalmanac6424
      @magesalmanac6424 Рік тому

      I’m picturing an elderly person in a nursing home who might still recall the case. They’d be few and far between though.

  • @Useaname
    @Useaname Рік тому +5

    At last

  • @valrahosman6463
    @valrahosman6463 Рік тому +2

    Such a sad case, to be forgotten like that.

  • @GenXfrom75
    @GenXfrom75 Рік тому +2

    Our first autumn in Kansas, we got snow and it was -8... Coming from South Carolina, that was brutal. It can definitely get cold in KS.

  • @johnarnehansen9574
    @johnarnehansen9574 Рік тому +3

    What about the "Pittfield Ghost Train sighting" of 1958? Has anyone heard of that, I read that story when I was about 13.

  • @MisterTalkingMachine
    @MisterTalkingMachine Рік тому +3

    Top notch as usual

  • @moneyman1995100
    @moneyman1995100 Рік тому +2

    Well, this is my new home of Witchita!

  • @tinyGrim1
    @tinyGrim1 Рік тому +3

    Thank you.

  • @SteveM000100
    @SteveM000100 Рік тому +5

    Don't get Surf Shark, pay me $2 and I'll keep you safe on the internet lol

  • @rhondajohnson8310
    @rhondajohnson8310 Рік тому +1

    We've missed you! Hope all is well and getting better for you. Thanks for the upload.❤

  • @JackieBaisa
    @JackieBaisa Рік тому +2

    Thanks!

  • @mijiyoon5575
    @mijiyoon5575 Рік тому +2

    ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ proper intro & music score

  • @carltaylor7589
    @carltaylor7589 Рік тому +1

    Curious world where have you been, glad ur back!

  • @hstjames5609
    @hstjames5609 Рік тому +2

    Heck yes!! Got my coffee, settling in with the cats for this one

  • @ParatalkPodcast
    @ParatalkPodcast Рік тому +2

    New video , excellent 👍

  • @legitbeans9078
    @legitbeans9078 Рік тому +6

    Why would someone murder a duffel bag?

    • @allenomalley4014
      @allenomalley4014 Рік тому +3

      I don’t know but I could murder a pint

    • @magesalmanac6424
      @magesalmanac6424 Рік тому +4

      TSA murders my luggage every time I go to the airport ☹️

    • @suyen4999
      @suyen4999 Рік тому +2

      You guys crack me up.

    • @tessaducek5601
      @tessaducek5601 Рік тому +2

      I wonder this about the
      Grocery bag killer and the boxcar killer...
      How offended does one need to be?

  • @jamieglover4853
    @jamieglover4853 Рік тому +3

    Quality

  • @brenda6201
    @brenda6201 Рік тому +2

    😢💔RIP Mary Brady💋🙏

    • @SecuritySpecial
      @SecuritySpecial Рік тому +1

      So sad that her brutal slaying goes forgotten and she rests in an unmarked grave while her vile murderer gets out of prison to live the remaining half of his life and gets a tombstone with army credentials. It makes me cry. Rest in Final Peace Mary.

  • @redbeki
    @redbeki 11 місяців тому +1

    Have you ever come across the story of Bella in the Wych Elm? A west midlands murder mystery...

  • @crisslastname9417
    @crisslastname9417 Рік тому +1

    Good one! 👍

  • @edwinbobafett1182
    @edwinbobafett1182 Рік тому +1

    You should be able to look at weather reports for that time to determine the temperatures in the area.

  • @michellemcknight4185
    @michellemcknight4185 Рік тому +3

    Brilliant videos, I just have one fault, there's not enough of them 😃😃

    • @CuriousWorldProductions
      @CuriousWorldProductions  Рік тому +2

      I'm sorry, Michelle. I've always been a bit of a part timer on here. I'm making more.

    • @michellemcknight4185
      @michellemcknight4185 Рік тому

      @@CuriousWorldProductions with a narrating voice like that you should be full time!

  • @scallopohare9431
    @scallopohare9431 Рік тому +2

    As far as estimating how long she had been dead, you don't seem to realize how cold it might have been in that part of the US early in the year. Certainly, plenty cold enough to slow or even stop decomposition.

    • @magesalmanac6424
      @magesalmanac6424 Рік тому +1

      Someone else in the comments looked up the weather for that date but I can’t find the comment now. There could have been an unusual thaw. Check the dates

    • @scallopohare9431
      @scallopohare9431 Рік тому

      @@magesalmanac6424 I am not anybody's RA. I pointed out the possibility, which was not acknowledged. The narration should have included info on the weather.

    • @tessaducek5601
      @tessaducek5601 Рік тому

      I do not imagine the narrator would realize this fact seeing that he is not from the US let alone Wichita.

    • @CuriousWorldProductions
      @CuriousWorldProductions  Рік тому +2

      It's something I had considered, as I'm sure law enforcement did at the time. I should have mentioned it, but didn't.

  • @loditx7706
    @loditx7706 Рік тому

    Your tenacity is admirable. Forgotten by many, I am glad to know and remember Mary Jean Brady. ❤ I am assuming she and her husband had no children.

  • @swansong5263
    @swansong5263 Рік тому +1

    Bless her heart.

  • @TheBusterMan
    @TheBusterMan Рік тому

    Good research.

  • @karawilliamson106
    @karawilliamson106 Рік тому +1

    💔

  • @tonyarichards5430
    @tonyarichards5430 Рік тому +1

    Thanks for the takeoff.
    That was fun.

  • @liamhar
    @liamhar Рік тому +3

    We need more ghost content.

  • @snicker576
    @snicker576 Рік тому +2

    I can nay and whinny just like a Horse

  • @rapheAltoid77
    @rapheAltoid77 Рік тому +2

    ...wait, I've seen this. Why the re-upload?

    • @jackie0604oxon
      @jackie0604oxon Рік тому +2

      I watched this a few weeks ago too; it was taken down a few hours after it was loaded, I don't know why.

    • @CuriousWorldProductions
      @CuriousWorldProductions  Рік тому +3

      Many people disapproved of the Tarot card reading sponsor I had originally, so I took it down.

    • @thurayya8905
      @thurayya8905 Рік тому +2

      ​@@CuriousWorldProductions That's terrible! I am sorry to hear you experienced such prejudice.

  • @christosvoskresye
    @christosvoskresye Рік тому +2

    After this, the Community Baptist Church will probably be plagued by wannabe ghost hunters. 😞

    • @christosvoskresye
      @christosvoskresye Рік тому +1

      @@osakarose5612 The same way they investigate the Gettysburg battlefield. It seems odd to believe the dead could come back from beyond the grave, but ONLY if they have a place to shelter from the rain.

    • @RichardWatt
      @RichardWatt Рік тому +1

      ​@@osakarose5612they found the remains of King Richard III under a car park in Leicester.

    • @christosvoskresye
      @christosvoskresye Рік тому

      @@RichardWatt Well, archaeologists found Richard III. To be fair to OsakaRose, that had nothing to do with ghost hunters.

  • @Saiyan_B
    @Saiyan_B Рік тому +1

    I pay for UA-cam premium it’s 7.99 but I can have all the videos I want and no ads.

  • @WallyTony
    @WallyTony Рік тому +1

    All those ads at the start made me thumbs this down. Seriously I sit through the UA-cam Ads, then I have to watch your plugs, and then it's more UA-cam ads. That's ridiculous.

    • @CuriousWorldProductions
      @CuriousWorldProductions  Рік тому +4

      There should be 2 ad slots for the entire video! That's what I requested anyway. UA-cam is making us look bad.

    • @VickyShawcooksalot
      @VickyShawcooksalot Рік тому +5

      He has no control over what yt does with their ads. And creators have their own sponsored ads because it's no guarantee that they will even get the revenue from all the yt ads. Sure not ad friendly so we aren't going to pay for for the dozen ads that we are still going to put every 2 minutes. That's yt for you. 🙄 I completely understand and I pay for premium so I don't have to watch what yt still puts for us to watch. And I just sit through the creators sponsored ads.

    • @6Haunted-Days
      @6Haunted-Days Рік тому +1

      Why tf would you sit through the sponsor ad? A few taps and I’m past the 30 sec or min ad 🤷🏼‍♀️ I have zero $ so I know there’s nothing I can buy even if I wanted too and I don’t want too. 🤣 But yea….I have premium too…..I HATE ADS….